How to Buy a Kombucha Scoby

Hailed by nutritionists, health scientists, and fans as a powerful health tonic, Kombucha tea is produced by the metabolic action of a specific culture, also called a Kombucha scoby, on black tea, water and sugar.

You can make your own tea beverage at home, but first you need a Kombucha Scoby, the unique culture that makes the delicious tea-based beverage credited by enthusiasts with many health benefits. Here's how to get one.

Instructions

• 1

  Inquire at your local health food store, especially those independently owned, for a Kombucha scoby. Even if they don't usually carry the culture as a regularly stocked item in their store, they may be able to order it for you.

• 2

  Ask your natural-food friends or anyone you know who brews their own Kombucha for an extra scoby. As you make the drink on a regular basis, your "mother" culture will produce younger ones -- eventually, you'll have too many. Find someone who is already at that point and you'll have a great source for your Kombucha scoby.

• 3

  Look for a scoby online, as there are several great sources that provide live cultures which you can start using as soon as you receive them in the mail. Look for one that is whole. Those that come in a powdered form, requiring a reconstitution and growth period before you can use it to make Kombucha tea at home, are not as ideal.

  See Resources, below, for a recommended source.